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Saturday, July 28, 2012

I posted a few geek pictures from Europe a bit ago. Mainly it was because I hadn't gone through all of the pictures and didn't know what all I wanted to share and that was because I didn't have all my pictures. I forgot my SD card and was using my friend's for most of London until I bought one of my own. He took his back, and we finally traded pictures today. So here they are: my favorite pictures and stories from Europe. There may be a few repeats from the geeking out in Europe post, but oh well. It's cause I like them a lot and I geek out a lot.

A few disclaimers: 1. There are lots of pictures here. 2. They may not be in the right order chronologically. I'm sure no one reading this cares, but I do so I'm pointing it out. 3. Some of them are crooked and I haven't straightened them yet. But I was keeping my camera steady on things that weren't a tripod and therefore not straight.

This was one of the first things we saw when we got off the Tube after dropping our stuff off. It was amazing. Also, let me tell you how tired I was this morning. We left Utah at 9:30ish AM on Sunday. SLC to Boston, Boston to London. I tried sleeping on the second flight, but I didn't have a whole lot of luck. We got there at 6:45 AM on Monday (local time). We went through customs, dropped our stuff off, and went out exploring. As you can tell, we got to Big Ben at 11:00 AM. We decided to go as long as we could that day. The jet lag was awful. By about 5 I was completely wiped out and slept the whole night.

Two very awesome things about this door. First, it has a doorknob in the middle of the door like Bag End. Lots of places in the UK had these, but it was still fun to see. Second, it's TARDIS blue. Thus, picture worthy.

Westminster Abbey

A statue of Abe Lincoln. Don't know why, but it was there in London.

I was really hoping Inspector Spacetime and Constable Reggie would step out, but they didn't.

Another statue of an American president. They must like our presidents over there. Generally speaking.

This was the view from St. James. It's the walking bridge the Death Eaters destroyed in Harry Potter and the Globe Theater replica.

Another view from St. James. Such a pretty city.

Tower of London

This was Henry V's armor in his early days. He had a really big horse.

Henry V's armor in his earlish days. Not too huge yet.

And this is Henry V's armor in his later days. Considerably bigger, and he apparently decided to protect his *ahem* baby maker.

This is not London Bridge. Common misconception. It's Tower Bridge. And it's totally awesome.

The Hipsta Bar. The Hipster Bar was too mainstream.

Daleks are trash cans now.

I found a TARDIS at Earl's Court (didn't see the Earl, but that was to be expected since I didn't see any of London Below).

I was really excited about it. I knew there was one around and told the guys I was with to keep their eyes open for a big blue box. "Like that one?" I squealed.

I love the TARDIS.

This was Bath. Ever seen Persuasion? Imagine this square with people dressed in 19th century garb and Captain Wentworth and Anne Elliot standing on the sidewalk. TOTALLY THE SAME PLACE!

I just like this sign.

I also liked this sign. This was in Cardiff. Welsh is a crazy language.

Also in Cardiff. I like Poundland better than the Dollar Store.

In Cardiff Castle. They were a little bit racist.

The Manor at Cardiff Castle.

The fortress at Cardiff Castle.

The view of Cardiff from the fortress. Cardiff is totally underrated. I loved it there.

Few people will get this, but I love this picture.

Cardiff Bay. That restaurant at the end of the pier is where the Doctor, Rose, Captain Jack, and Mickey ate lunch one day.

Spoiler if you haven't watched Torchwood yet. Ianto dies. It's sad. Really sad. Cause I love Ianto. I love the fun relationship he and Captain Jack have. Anyway, this is where he died in the show.

Another plaque for Ianto.

This is the public entrance to Torchwood Cardiff. It's also a shrine to Ianto.

The restaurant again, this time with me looking really excited.

The square where Torchwood's secret entrance is.

It was unreal to see this in real life. Torchwood's secret entrance, the rift, and it reminded me of the Slytheen too.

Torchwood's secret entrance. Usually the tall structure has water running down it, but I guess they had it off for the winter even though we were there in May. I tried standing right in front of it, but it didn't work for me. I'm sure Captain Jack was down there laughing at me. Or maybe he wasn't. I haven't seen any Torchwood since Children of Earth. They may have relocated.

This was the Cardiff police station. Where Gwen Cooper used to work. I took this picture hastily from a bus.

London again. This was probably the coolest sushi place ever.

For Mom

All these need is a child saying, "are you my mummy?" Steven Moffat has made me afraid of gas masks.

This is a horrible picture, but it was also taken hastily from a train. But that's a blue box that says London Transport. It's not the Doctor, but maybe the Master? He could have found a TARDIS...

Winston Churchill's bowler hat.

Winston Churchill's cigar.

Winston Churchill's timey-wimey detector. Well, not his. He probably borrowed it from the Doctor.

London Eye. I'm pretty sure I was standing right where Rose and the Doctor were standing in their very first episode when they figure out where the Nestene Consciousness was hiding. Also, I think that building to the left is the hospital where Martha Jones was doing her internship. Can you guess how much I was geeking out in London and Cardiff?

This and all the pictures below are from my ride on the London Eye. I walked up the Thames at night on my own and rode the Eye. It was amazing. Totally worth the 19 pounds. London is a beautiful city and it was breathtaking at night from the Eye.

And back on the ground. I have a lot of pictures like this one. Next time I go to London I'm taking my tripod and my digital SLR that I don't own yet.

A DALEK! It was quite a feat to find this one. I knew it was in the bookstore in Picadilly Circus (or maybe it was Oxford Circus...). I walked into the giant bookstore and wandered around looking for it with no luck. Finally, after about 20 minutes I saw it's head at the top of the staircase. I started walking towards it, but there was a gate that stopped me. I went down and sheepishly asked an employee if I could go up. They have me the code to the gate and I got to see the Dalek. SO AWESOME!

This was a horrible picture, but it was on the timer and apparently the flash didn't think it needed to go off. I didn't want to try for another one cause I felt like I wasn't supposed to be there in the first place anyway. The top floor was definitely not for customers.

Dial 999. Or is it 0-118-999-88199-9119-725-3?

More Daleks! This was in the back room of the Who Shop. I spent a good 60 pounds there ($90), but it was totally worth it. It was an extra 2 or 3 pounds to go into the back room where they have a bunch of props from the store and there was no way I was missing that. The way to the back room was through a TARDIS. An actual one used on the show. You couldn't take pictures up front, but the kid working there gave me the key to the TARDIS and I opened the door! AH! Seriously, that was a crazy awesome moment. Turning the key and opening the door to the TARDIS. Let's ponder how much I still geek out over that one moment. That alone was worth more than the cost of admission. Anyway, these Daleks were in the back room and used on the show. Awesome!

Vincent Van Gough's costume.

K9!

Captain Jack's coat and his Vortex Manipulator. I want to meet John Barrowman a lot...

One of Tom Baker's costumes.

Paris! The Eiffel Tower was the first place we went when we got there.

View from the first floor

View from the top

I loved this. So much.

Me being buff in front of the palace at Versailles. Or is the palace Versailles?

At the Orsay Museum. I liked this one better than the Louvre. I could have spent all day in the Van Gough room. This is the first of my illegal pictures.

And the second. I was able to sneak I think 3 pictures of this one. It's one of my favorites. And look in the windows - no Krafayis! The Doctor and Amy really did go back and see Vincent!

Arc de Triomphe. I like how the cars lined up so nicely for this shot.

Me and the Arc de Triomphe.

Views from the Arc. Paris was one of the most beautiful cities I've ever been too. Scratch that. It's absolutely the most beautiful city I've ever been to. And the people were great. I was expecting them to be all pompous, but as long as you aren't the stereotypical American tourist being loud and annoying and assuming everyone speaks English, Parisians are super nice and helpful. At least they were for us.

We just stumbled upon this.

Dotre Dame!

I loved these gargoyles so much!

The view from the top. And whenever I talk about the view from the top of things, bare in mind we walked up stairs every time. Europe doesn't really believe in elevators or escalators. I probably climbed more stairs in these three weeks than I have the whole rest of my life combined.

This one was my favorite gargoyle for some reason.

Outside the courtyard to The Louvre.

Inside the courtyard of The Louvre. It was exciting.

I have no idea how Brian was able to get this shot without anyone else in it. There were people everywhere.

The glass reflected the sun onto the palace and had a crazy awesome effect.

Venus de Milo. Incredibly beautiful.

A Ceasar. Or is it a Time Lord? (If you still aren't picking up, it looks exactly like Christopher Eccleston, only his ears stick out more).

Winged Victory. Another breathtaking statue.

Mona Lisa, Mona Lisa, men have named you... Huge crowd here.

Liberty Leading the People. This painting inspired the Statue of Liberty. Love it.

Michelangelo's Dying Slave. The man was incredible.

Michelangelo's Rebellious Slave. Seriously amazing.

THERE'S AN ASTERIX PARK?! "No, this is the IVth floor, we want the VIth"

Chopin (I can't think of a song that I could write out here. Just go listen to his music)

Edith Piaf (Non, rien de rien. Non, Je ne regrette rien)

Gertrude Stein. She wrote books and stories, not songs.

Oscar Wilde. Importance of Being Ernest, among other things. His grave had a partition because people kept vandalizing it.

Weeping angels?

Weeping angel...

WEEPING ANGELS!

Florence. Stunning city, especially at night.

My illegal picture of The David. Another place I could have stayed all day.

People in Florence are kind of racist.

Illegal picture of the Birth of Venus

Cinque Terre. We spent the day hiking a lot, even in the rain. Gorgeous. Every last bit of it, gorgeous.

I think this was Manarola. But we hiked from Manarola to Corniglia... I think.

The empty beach. It was stormy most of the day.

Monterosso, the northern most town.

Lemons! Lemon trees were everywhere. We even had lemon gelato made from local lemons. Speaking of lemons, I need to describe the smell of this place. Lemon blossoms, basil, salt, rain, honey suckle, and all the beautiful smells you can think of.

Leaving Monterosso and hiking to Vernazza.

Vernazza from a distance

Closer

And closer

Vernazza had a big flood and mud slide several months before and they were still cleaning up. This house was completely demolished. I could see pictures of Miles Davis and Louis Armstrong on the wall.

This was hiking from Riomagiorre to Manarola. I think...

Rome!

The arch in the Forum. This depicts the Romans carrying the Arc of the Covenant out of Jerusalem.

They had rodeos in ancient Rome too...

Rafael's tomb in the Pantheon.

My brain exploded a little when I saw this.

One of my favorite sculptures - Laocoon and His Sons

I bet you didn't know Sylvester Stalone was alive the same time Rafael was.

Pieta

MORE WEEPING ANGELS! THE ANGELS HAVE ST. PETER'S!

And for some reason these pictures ended up at the bottom. Back to Britain! We didn't go to Liverpool, but we stopped off at Liverpool Street!

This is everyone that went from your right: me, Stuart (Brian's brother), Tiffer (Stuart's friend), and Brian (my friend). I didn't know Stuart or Tiffer before this trip. It made for... fun times :)

CARDIFF! I was so happy to be there.

In the stocks at Cardiff Castle.

Stuart and I walking across Abbey Road. I'm glad at least one other person there liked the Beatles as much as I did.

Me at Abbey Road

And again

Me with a cop. Brian made me take a picture with him. The guy was really cool about it.

Versailles. This was the room where the angry mob took Queen Antoinette. And for some reason that means I'm doing a thumbs up?

On top of the Arc de Triomphe.

Me admiring David. Cause it's very admirable.

Monterosso

And me in the Mediterranean. It was freezing so I wore leggings and a shirt in addition to my swim suit and didn't go in much further than you see here.

Yay! That's all! Well, not all. I took about 1500 pictures in all and I have all of the pictures Brian took as well, so I have a lot of pictures. But yay, that's all I'm going to post!